Moses Drawn Out by God, Part 2

You can buy a burning bush. It’s also known as winged spindle, a beautiful flowering bush native to China, Japan, and Korea. Euonymus alatus is a popular ornamental plant in gardens and parks because of its brilliant orange and red foliage in the fall.

The bush seen by Moses in the Midian wilderness, after he had fled Egypt to avoid the wrath of the Pharaoh, wasn’t just a pretty desert plant you could purchase at a local nursery. This bush was flaming with fire because “the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush” (Exodus 3:2).

The sight was so unusual because, though the bush was burning with fire, it did not burn up. When Moses approached the burning bush, God called to him and then said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground” (v. 5).

The Lord told Moses that He had heard the cries of His people enslaved in a foreign land and wanted Moses to bring “My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (v. 10).

But the reluctant shepherd resisted. Though he had originally sensed his calling while in Egypt to use his inborn talents and education to free the Hebrews, he now shrank from this dramatic call by God. For forty years he had been raised in Egypt to the heights of power, but then fled in the face of a Pharaoh who wanted him dead. Now, after forty years of living in Midian, marrying the daughter of Jethro, and tending sheep, his heart had changed. Moses now had no confidence in himself.

Sometimes when God’s people feel most prepared to answer His summons to service, when they feel most ready to take action, they are least in a place to lead. Like Paul, who spent three years in Arabia before he was in a position to conduct great missionary endeavors, Moses needed time away from Egypt to unlearn all he had gained in that culture in order that he might be more filled with the Spirit.

It’s a necessary step in conversion for all God’s people—distrusting self and trusting only in God.

Reflect: Can you think of a time you felt ready to tackle something big and didn’t realize just how “not ready” you were? Go to God first before you go into battle!

Key Bible Texts

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:10 KJV)